Systems and methods for dock placement for an autonomous mobile robot

Abstract

Described herein are systems, devices, and methods for validating location of a docking station for docking a mobile robot. In an example, a mobile robot system includes a docking station and a mobile cleaning robot. The mobile cleaning robot includes a drive system to move the mobile cleaning robot about an environment including a docking area within a distance of the docking station, and a controller circuit to detect, from an image of the docking area, a presence or absence of one or more obstacles in the docking area. A notification may be generated to inform a user about the detected obstacles. The mobile device may generate a recommendation to the user to clear the docking area or reposition the docking station, or suggest one or more candidate locations for placing the docking station.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A mobile robot system, comprising:
 a docking station; and 
 a mobile cleaning robot including:
 a drive system configured to move the mobile cleaning robot about an environment including a docking area within a distance of the docking station; and 
 a controller circuit configured to:
 receive an image of the docking area; 
 detect from the received image a presence or absence of one or more obstacles in the docking area; 
 generate a notification to a user about the detected presence of absence of one or more obstacles; and 
 in response to the presence of the one or more obstacles in the docking area, generate a recommendation to the user to reposition the docking station. 
 
 
 
     
     
       2. The mobile robot system of  claim 1 , wherein the mobile cleaning robot includes an imaging sensor configured to generate the image of the docking area. 
     
     
       3. The mobile robot system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller circuit is configured to receive the image of the docking area from a mobile device operatively in communication with the mobile cleaning robot, the mobile device including an imaging sensor configured to generate the image of the docking area. 
     
     
       4. The mobile robot system of  claim 1 , wherein the controller circuit is configured to detect the presence or absence of one or more obstacles in the docking area based on a comparison of the image of the docking area and a stored image of the docking area free of obstacles. 
     
     
       5. The mobile robot system of  claim 1 , wherein the mobile cleaning robot includes at least one sensor including a bump sensor, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, or an obstacle sensor, and wherein the controller circuit is configured to detect the presence or absence of one or more obstacles in the docking area further based on a signal sensed by the at least one sensor. 
     
     
       6. The mobile robot system of  claim 1 , comprising a mobile device operatively in communication with the mobile cleaning robot, the mobile device configured to:
 present to the user the notification about the detected one or more obstacles; and 
 a display the recommendation to the user to reposition the docking station in response to the presence of one or more obstacles in the docking area. 
 
     
     
       7. The mobile robot system of  claim 6 , wherein the mobile device is configured to:
 generate a graph representing docking failure rates at respective sites around a present location of the docking station when one or more of the respective sites are occupied by an obstacle; and 
 display the graph on a map of the environment; 
 wherein the recommendation to reposition the docking station is based on the graph. 
 
     
     
       8. The mobile robot system of  claim 7 , wherein the mobile device is configured to:
 compute a docking failure score based on the graph; and 
 generate the recommendation to reposition the docking station if the docking failure score exceeds a threshold. 
 
     
     
       9. The mobile robot system of  claim 6 , wherein the mobile device is configured to:
 present to the user one or more candidate locations of the docking station on a map of the environment; and 
 receive a user selection from the one or more candidate locations for placement of the docking station. 
 
     
     
       10. The mobile robot system of  claim 9 , wherein the mobile device is configured to:
 for each of the one or more candidate locations of the docking station, generate a graph representing docking failure rates at respective sites around a corresponding candidate location when one or more of the respective sites are occupied by an obstacle; and 
 display, on the map of the environment, the graphs corresponding to the one or more candidate locations. 
 
     
     
       11. The mobile robot system of  claim 10 , wherein the mobile device is configured to:
 compute docking failure scores respectively from the graphs corresponding to the one or more candidate locations; and 
 present to the user a recommended location based on the docking failure scores corresponding to the one or more candidate locations. 
 
     
     
       12. The mobile robot system of  claim 6 , wherein the mobile device is configured to:
 receive an image of the docking station and information about operating status of the docking station; and 
 generate an augmented reality representation comprising a machine-generated operating status indicator of the docking station overlaying upon the image of the docking station. 
 
     
     
       13. The mobile robot system of  claim 12 , wherein the operating status of the docking station includes a status of an evacuation unit included in the docking station and configured to extract debris from the mobile cleaning robot. 
     
     
       14. The mobile robot system of  claim 6 , wherein the mobile device is configured to:
 receive an image of the mobile cleaning robot and information about operating status of the mobile cleaning robot; and 
 generate an augmented reality representation comprising a machine-generated operating status indicator of the mobile cleaning robot overlaying upon the image of the mobile cleaning robot. 
 
     
     
       15. The mobile robot system of  claim 14 , wherein the operating status of the mobile cleaning robot includes respective status of one or more of a debris bin, a filter, a sensor, or a battery of the mobile cleaning robot. 
     
     
       16. A mobile robot system, comprising:
 a mobile cleaning robot including: 
 a controller circuit; 
 a drive system configured to move the mobile cleaning robot about an environment including a docking area around a docking station; and 
 a mobile device operatively in communication with the mobile cleaning robot and configured to:
 generate, and display to a user, an augmented reality (AR) representation of the docking area, the AR representation comprising a machine-generated virtual bounding box overlaying upon an image of the docking area, the machine-generated virtual bounding box defining a docking clearance zone around the docking station; and 
 in response to a presence of one or more obstacles in the machine-generated virtual bounding box, generate a recommendation to the user to reposition the docking station. 
 
 
     
     
       17. The mobile robot system of  claim 16 , wherein the mobile device is configured to:
 detect from the image of the docking area a presence or absence of one or more obstacles; and 
 display the machine-generated virtual bounding box in a first color or render style if the one or more obstacles are present within the machine-generated virtual bounding box, or in a different second color or render style if no obstacle is present within the machine-generated virtual bounding box. 
 
     
     
       18. The mobile robot system of  claim 16 , wherein the mobile device is configured to, in response to a presence of one or more obstacles in the machine-generated virtual bounding box, generate a recommendation to the user to clear the docking area. 
     
     
       19. The mobile robot system of  claim 16 , wherein the mobile device is configured to:
 detect, in the docking area, a status of a wireless communication signal for data communication between the mobile cleaning robot and one or more of the docking station or the mobile device; 
 present the wireless communication signal status to the user; and 
 generate the recommendation to the user to reposition the docking station if the wireless communication signal status satisfies a signal strength condition. 
 
     
     
       20. The mobile robot system of  claim 19 , wherein the wireless communication signal status includes an indicator of Wi-Fi signal strength. 
     
     
       21. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium that includes instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:
 receiving an image of a docking area within a distance of a docking station for docking a mobile cleaning robot in an environment; 
 detecting from the received image a presence or absence of one or more obstacles in the docking area; 
 generating a notification to a user about the detected presence of absence of one or more obstacles; and 
 in response to the presence of the one or more obstacles in the docking area, generating a recommendation to the user to reposition the docking station. 
 
     
     
       22. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 21 , wherein the instructions cause the machine to perform operations further comprising:
 receiving a signal sensed by at least one sensor associated with the mobile cleaning robot, the at least one sensor including a bump sensor, an optical sensor, a proximity sensor, or an obstacle sensor; and 
 detecting the presence or absence of one or more obstacles in the docking area further based on the signal sensed by the at least one sensor. 
 
     
     
       23. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 21 , wherein the operation of detecting the presence or absence of one or more obstacles in the docking area includes comparing the image of the docking area to a stored image of the docking area free of obstacles. 
     
     
       24. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 21 , wherein the instructions cause the machine to perform operations further comprising, in response to a detection of a presence of one or more obstacles in the docking area, generating a recommendation to the user to clear the docking area. 
     
     
       25. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 21 , wherein the instructions cause the machine to perform operations further comprising:
 generating a graph representing docking failure rates at respective sites around a present location of the docking station when one or more of the respective sites are occupied by an obstacle; 
 displaying the graph on a map of the environment; and 
 displaying the recommendation to the user to reposition the docking station to a different location based on the graph. 
 
     
     
       26. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 25 , wherein the instructions cause the machine to perform operations further comprising computing a docking failure score based on the graph,
 wherein the operation of generating the recommendation to reposition the docking station is performed in response to the docking failure score exceeding a threshold. 
 
     
     
       27. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 21 , wherein the instructions cause the machine to perform operations further comprising:
 presenting to the user one or more candidate locations of the docking station on a map of the environment; and 
 receiving a user selection from the one or more candidate locations for placement of the docking station. 
 
     
     
       28. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 27 , wherein the instructions cause the machine to perform operations further comprising:
 for each of the one or more candidate locations of the docking station, generating a graph representing docking failure rates at respective sites around a corresponding candidate location when one or more of the respective sites are occupied by an obstacle; and 
 displaying, on a map of the environment, the graphs corresponding to the one or more candidate locations. 
 
     
     
       29. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 28 , wherein the instructions cause the machine to perform operations further comprising:
 computing docking failure scores respectively from the graphs corresponding to the one or more candidate locations; and 
 presenting to the user a recommended location based on the docking failure scores corresponding to the one or more candidate locations. 
 
     
     
       30. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 21 , wherein the instructions cause the machine to perform operations further comprising generating, and displaying to a user, an augmented reality (AR) representation of the docking area, the AR representation comprising a machine-generated virtual bounding box overlaying upon the image of the docking area, the machine-generated virtual bounding box defining a docking clearance zone around the docking station. 
     
     
       31. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 30 , wherein the operation of generating and displaying the AR representation includes displaying the machine-generated virtual bounding box in a first color or render style if the one or more obstacles are present within the machine-generated virtual bounding box, or in a different second color or render style if no obstacle is present within the machine-generated virtual bounding box. 
     
     
       32. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of  claim 30 , wherein the instructions cause the machine to perform operations further comprising:
 detecting, in the docking area, a status of a wireless communication signal for data communication between the mobile cleaning robot and one or more of the docking station or a mobile device; 
 presenting the wireless communication signal status to the user; and 
 generating a recommendation to the user to reposition the docking station if the wireless communication signal status satisfies a signal strength condition.